Then Again, Maybe I won't
by Ceasefire
Summary: Ray and the White Tigers are the only young people left in their village and are expected to have children. So when Ray invites Mariah back to his place late at night, what has she got to lose? {Not lemon, rating changed just in case.}
1. Do I have anything to lose? Or gain?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! FOR 3 DAYS AGO...  
  
OOOOOOOOOOKAY... this one is a little weird. It's basically centred on Mariah being pregnant. Strange, I seem to have an obsession with doing that to her. Just had the urge to write it. This is the prologue but ya know... if ya like I'll continue. **sigh** I have WAY too many fics to continue. I plan to do Little Kenny and Revealed Passion soon, and then Future Hope and Ties. But it all depends on what I feel inspired to do... I don't own Beyblade. And I want What The? to come onto Rove Live so I can go to bed. And whoever you are, stop telling me to use the original Japanese names. I like the dub names  
  
THEN AGAIN, MAYBE I WON'T... (AN: The title is already off the topic!)  
  
(Prologue)  
  
It had been 10 years since the downfall of Voltaire and The White Tigers and Ray have returned to their village. The undeniable and underlying sexual tension between Mariah and Ray was yet to die, and everyone, inclusive of Mariah seemed to realise it. Everyone, that is, except Ray. He still seemed to be ignorant of the fact, and it made Mariah's heart ache just thinking that he was trying to ignore her feelings. He was just wrapped up in his own confused little world; he barely even seemed to care anymore.  
  
Or so Mariah had thought, until one night changed everything.  
  
~*~Sort of a flashback...~*~  
  
Mariah sat on the bank of the river that ran through the middle of their hometown, her pink hair blowing gently in the warm breeze. It was a humid night, and the air was as thick and warm as milk, the moisture making her t- shirt cling to her skin slightly. She usually came to this place when she was pissed off or upset, but tonight she felt strangely content, as though she was on some sort of natural high. Even though most of their childhood friends had left their small village, becoming addicted and having lost themselves to the drug of the city lights, she, Lee her older brother, Gary, Kevin and Ray had remained. Maybe it was because they were the only ones that had really travelled out of their village before, and having found out that the big city wasn't as crash-hot as it seemed, they had decided to stay and ensure the future generations of their village.  
  
And she was the only girl. The Elders of the village expected her to get married, have children and hopefully those children would be MALE, to stick to the old and traditional ways, but the question was, with just who exactly? The bloodline between her and Lee was too close to have children; Kevin was still a head shorter than she was (she'd grown tall, much to the disgust of the Elders who still favoured small women) and I'm sorry, but Gary was out of the question. That left Ray.  
  
What about Ray? She herself still liked him, but honestly she didn't think he knew if he was Arthur or Martha. Well, he knew he wasn't the latter, but he just seemed so distant and confused lately. Frankly she wouldn't have been shocked if he left the village again...  
  
Mariah stood up and stretched, her butt had gone numb, damn it. She stretched slightly and yawned, stifling most of the sound with her left palm. It must have been close to midnight, she was so tired. But she found herself sitting down again.  
  
'What am I waiting for exactly?' she asked herself, her eyes widening with uncertainty at her own question. It was actually a good question, she didn't really know. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out into the humid night air that shocked her.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts?"  
  
Mariah felt her head swivel around on her shoulders slowly, and she came face to face with Ray. And right now, Ray looked completely drool-worthy. His shirt was tight over his chest, his raven hair trembling slightly in the breeze, his golden eyes warm and inviting. Overall: very sexy. Mariah could almost hear the two sides of her brain arguing.  
  
'Hey, when is he not sexy?' said the left side of her brain.  
  
'Shut up! I'm trying to control natural urges here.' Retaliated the right side.  
  
'Why bother?'  
  
'I told you to shut up!'  
  
'You'll be sorry...'  
  
"Earth to Mariah?" asked Ray, smiling and walking over to her, sitting down next to her, smiling devilishly. God damn him for being so good looking.  
  
"Err... yes?"  
  
"What are you doing out here by yourself at this time of night?"  
  
"Just thinking about the sort of stuff that might happen to me, being the only young woman left in the village. I know what the Elders expect me to do..." she looked up at Ray momentarily and blushed, "But I don't know... sorry I don't even feel comfortable discussing this with a guy."  
  
Mariah felt Ray shift besides her, and felt his rough hand being placed on top on her own smooth one. She heard her own sharp intake of breath as his hand slid gently up the side of her body and finally rested on her cheek.  
  
"You shouldn't be shy around me, Mariah..." he said slowly, his eyes shining with an emotion Mariah didn't recognise. He looked so serious and it shocked her to see him looking at her in that way. It made her feel so strange...  
  
She stood up abruptly, making Ray flinch away from her, wondering what he'd done to freak her out. (AN: Oh, I wonder Romeo...)  
  
"I must go now, it's getting late. Goodbye, Ray..." stuttered Mariah before turning to leave. Ray reached out and grabbed her wrist, and she tripped on the steep ground and crashed into Ray, causing them both to roll down the steep embankment, until the pair was suddenly halted by Mariah's back crashing into a tree. She moaned in pain, before opening her eyes and glaring at Ray.  
  
"Why the Hell did you do that? I nearly broke my spine breaking your fall just then," she snapped, before pushing him away roughly, standing up and leaning back against the tree. Ray simply sat down and stared into her eyes, and they could both feel the uncomfortable silence growing.  
  
"So..." Mariah started and then paused, trying to decide where to go from there, "...you know why I'm here now tell me what you were doing spying on me." She said this without even facing him.  
  
"How badly do you want to know?" Ray replied, a devilish smile appearing on his face, his eyes regaining their normal cheeky shine.  
  
Mariah took a single deep breath, closed her eyes and turned to look at him.  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
Ray stood up slowly, never breaking eye contact with the woman in front of him. He then walked the short distance over to her and forced her back against the tree, his chest pressed strongly against hers, her back pressed against the tree. He could feel her heart rate quicken and she gasped slightly, she felt her own eyes widening. He laughed softly his warm breath on her neck.  
  
"How badly do you want to know, Mari?" he whispered in her ear.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"No. Why should I?"  
  
"You're really starting to freak me out, Ray."  
  
"Come back to my place..." Mariah considered his offer, seeing nothing wrong with it. She wasn't stupid; she wouldn't let him attempt to do anything like THAT to her. He knew she was able to defend herself.  
  
'I told you didn't I? Don't chicken out now- this is your big chance to make the Elders proud and get what you want at the same time,' the left side of her brain said.  
  
'Oh what the Hell! Just go for it girl! What have you got to lose? You still like him and he's sown that he likes you to so just jump!" said the right side of her brain. Mariah agreed- what did she have to lose? She was going to end up married and pregnant whichever way she went. So she might as well go for the lesser of three evils. And to add to the fact, she still loved Ray. So she took her own advice and decided to take the risk. She pulled away from Ray and smiled at him flirtatiously.  
  
"Sure... why not. I'll just go home to get 'ready'..." Mariah mused, running her long, slender index finger down Ray's spine. He shivered and watched her walk up the bank of the river, sending him one last smirk before she disappeared around a corner.  
  
"Hoo boy..." said Ray, taking a single, deep breath to try and calm himself down. He walked back to his own house very slowly to wait for Mariah there. He sat on his couch near the door, tensed, trying to watch TV, which happened to be some erotic pornographic thing, which really didn't calm him down- he thought his pants were going to explode. He heard a knock on the door and he sighed and got up to answer it. It was Mariah all right. She was wearing a tight pink halter-top, which didn't leave much to the imagination, a short black miniskirt, fishnet stocking and knee-high boots. (AN: Sounds like what I wore to my school dance last year! O_O)  
  
"Hi Ray."  
  
Ray had completely lost his cool. He felt the blush in his cheeks rising and other parts of his body rising too.  
  
"Hey, Mariah."  
  
"Look, I'm not an idiot. I know why I'm here. But I have to ask you, do you actually love me, or just see me as a piece of ass, eh?"  
  
Ray knew the answer to that question; he'd loved Mariah since he was a kid, before he'd known what love was.  
  
"You know I love you, Mariah, nothing could ever change that." And he walked over to her and kissed her gently. Mariah broke the kiss and smirked.  
  
"Call that a kiss?" she whispered in his ear, before launching herself at him, wrapping her legs securely around his waist and kissing him deeply. Ray had his hands entangled in her hair, and he moved them downwards to rest on her butt. However after a few more minutes of tongue wrestling, he found his hands travelling upwards again, fiddling with the knot holding her top together. When he finished undoing it he let the cloth drop to the floor and he admired her upper body. He saw her richly tanned skin contrasting starkly with the white skin of her breasts.  
  
He smiled and continued kissing her, but soon she broke the kiss and gasped for air, smiling at him.  
  
"Are we going to get anywhere? Or am I just wasting my time? Kiddie rides have excited me more in the past."  
  
"Well let's take this upstairs to let's say... the bedroom," he smirked. She nodded and he held onto her waist tightly and ran up the stairs, tripping once on the way, but once Ray had finished finding his feet again they got there. When they arrived, he threw Mariah onto the bed and she squealed a bit when he jumped on top of her, too. He leaned down to nip her left ear.  
  
"Gentle?"  
  
He switched to her right ear.  
  
"Or rough?"  
  
She kissed him gently on the lips and smiled.  
  
"Rough."  
  
~*~*~  
  
O_O!!!!!!!! I'll put this under PG-13 but tell me whether it should change. I don't want to get into trouble. Review! I continue quicker if I get more reviews... remember this is the prologue only... 


	2. The Thin Blue Lines

Chapter two! I hope you peeps enjoy it. I was lost on this fic for a while but it'll be all right, hopefully. I don't own Beyblade. Oh, and I'm quite surprised by the amount of reviews I got for chapter one! I honestly didn't think that this fic was anything flash.  
  
Warning: This fic does sometimes touch on some rather adult issues; so if you don't feel comfortable about reading about them, please leave now. I now hold no responsibility to whether you want to read or not, because I warned you.  
  
THEN AGAIN, MAYBE I WON'T...  
  
~*~*~  
  
Mariah woke up the following day, with the early morning sunlight streaming through the window at a steady pace, and immediately got the feeling she wasn't alone.  
  
'Well OF COURSE you're not alone. You know what happened last night...'  
  
"Shut up..."Mariah muttered to herself.  
  
'You seduced Ray Kon purely with your own welfare in mind!'  
  
"Damn it... he made advances on me first," she snarled. She hates waging war with her conscience, because she knew she never won.  
  
"Yeah well I may have been for this last night... but just think! Realize what's you've committed yourself to!"  
  
Mariah's thoughts hit a brick wall. It hadn't really mattered to her last night but...  
  
That was what she'd been aiming for, right?  
  
To net some poor sap in so she could please the Elders.  
  
How stupid and inconsiderate could she have been?!  
  
She stared a Ray, lying completely innocent; sleeping so soundly... yet unaware of what he'd just dedicated himself to...  
  
'I'll have to leave,' she thought. 'It wasn't my place to seduce him like that.'  
  
She slid out of the bed, shivering as the frosty early morning breeze came through the window and brushed against her bare skin. That was the bloody problem with their hometown- it was sticky and humid at night and unbearably cold in the mornings. She gathered up the clothes she'd worn- probably the sluttiest clothes she had owned in her entire life, and this had been the only time she had ever worn them- to trick her best friend into sleeping with her. Now that she thought about it, her own actions made her sick.  
  
Mariah strode into the next room, where she clothed herself and freshened up. She sighed, grabbing her keys off the couch, where they had been discarded, and readied herself for going back to the Real World.  
  
"Yeah? Well the Real World is CRAP," she stated out loud, her voice echoing off the walls of the house. She heard Ray stir slightly, and she held her breath- she'd been wanting to get out of there, quickly, before he woke up. She heard him roll over and his soft snores continued and she let out a huge sigh in pure relief.  
  
'I've got to get out of here... but it would make me feel so guilty to leave him here alone...' Mariah thought to herself, tossing between her two obvious options, wondering what the Hell she should do. She couldn't just walk out... could she?  
  
"That would be stupid... I'm running away," she muttered to herself, sighing afterwards, her courage once again failing her, shivering at what she imagined the consequences to be if she stayed. Mariah knew that she would have to face Ray sooner or later- they trained children together in the sport of Beyblade, she taking the girls and Ray taking the boys. They had sometimes spoke to each other about training strategies, but their relationship had never gotten past their fast friendship. At least, not until last night...  
  
He'd said he'd loved her... but had she ever said that she loved him? She knew she did, in her heart, but he didn't know that...  
  
No. She was pretty sure she hadn't said that she loved him. In fact, she was positive she hadn't.  
  
She hadn't said it, but she knew she still did...  
  
Going against her instincts, she rushed back up the stairs, and back around to Ray's bedroom, relieved to find him still asleep. Mariah then walked over to the side of the bed he'd fallen asleep on, and surveyed him while he was asleep, like a guardian. She then leaned down and placed a soft kiss to his unshaven cheek- she was actually was quite appreciative of this, because it made him look rather manly- for some reason he had always appeared as the young boy she'd always known to her. Plus he looked so above suspicion while he was sleeping...  
  
Her hand unwillingly trailed to his cheek, and she began slowly trailing her fingers upwards from there, lightly brushing his ebony hair out of his face so she could see him properly.  
  
"I love you..." she whispered to Ray's sleeping form, obviously getting no reaction but she swore that he could hear her because the corners of his mouth twitched slightly in his sleep, into an impish grin.  
  
Mariah sighed, knowing this would probably be the last time she'd let herself see him in a while, but finally she drew her hand away from her face and back to her side, turning away and rushing down the stairs, eventually reaching the front door, throwing it open and shutting it behind her. Unlike the previous night, when the weather had been warm and the air thick, today was freezing cold with biting, frosty winds that immediately began stinging her exposed skin. The weather often changed quickly like that in the village- due to its close proximity to the mountains, the temperature had a nasty habit of going from humid to freezing in a matter of hours- usually she thought of this and dressed with a weather change in mind, but last night she'd been a little too preoccupied to think of that. She shivered and rubbed her hands up and down her opposite arms- she wondered what the Elders and Lee would think if they caught her coming back from Ray's place at 6a.m. with the most revealing clothes in her wardrobe on.  
  
She finally reached her own house, immediately shutting the door and stoking up a fire- her house usually got too hot for her to use the fireplace, but today was an exception, it seemed.  
  
Mariah stood up abruptly from her position on the couch, going down the hallway to retrieve some extra blankets from her linen cupboard, shivering violently, although technically she really should be becoming warmer.  
  
Eventually, she got up again and began brewing herself a hot cup of tea... it always warmed her up. Once that task had been accomplished, she reclaimed her position in front of the fire, her shaking hands raising the delicate porcelain cup to her lips so she could take a slow sip. Once she had swallowed, warmth from the tea slowly crept through her body, coursing through her veins at a swift pace, but also dying out strangely quickly.  
  
Mariah took it upon herself to sigh once again, the force of her breath causing the steam that was steadily rising from her cup to billow violently off-course.  
  
She had never felt more alone in her life- long ago had the Elders taken Galux away from her to give to one lucky person from the next generation of Beybladers from their village, she lived completely alone, usually enjoying her freedom, and she didn't have any pets to keep her company nor any female friends who were left in the village.  
  
The certainty of being able to talk to her older brother was always there, but this was really the sort of thing you'd want to discuss with a fellow woman. I mean, what would she say to Lee anyway? "Hi, bro! Last night, your best friend and me slept with each other! Ain't that fabulous?"  
  
She shook her head- that was stupid. So there was nothing much she could do at the moment, except wait and find out the consequences of her one night of indulgence...  
  
~*~*~  
  
Ray woke up alone. His immediate reaction to being shaken off like that was anger, but after that he had felt worry stab him in the stomach like a knife. Mariah knew how to take care of herself, but this had been a pretty big step...  
  
If she had gone anywhere, it was back to her own house or to Lee's. He decided he'd definitely try the former first- it would look pretty weird if he'd shown up at his best friend's place at seven in the morning, looking for his friend's younger sister.  
  
He had been lying in bed, with his arms haphazardly strewn behind his head, but he took it upon himself to find Mariah. He got out of bed; quickly shutting the curtains in case of the rare occurrence would walk innocently past and see him standing there, in full view, completely naked. Honestly, no one besides his parents had even seen him naked. And only up until he was about 3, because then his modesty had kicked in and he'd learned to dress himself, and he'd just gone there, practically learning to do everything for himself.  
  
'Aa, but that's not true anymore. Have you forgotten what happened last night?' a snide voice echoed in the back of his head.  
  
Ray shut his eyes, breathing out deeply, trying to clear his head of images of the previous night, supposing that he should probably forget all about it.  
  
"She obviously regretted it... so why should I worry myself about it?" he thought, slowly dressing in his usual attire but putting an extra jacket over the top also, due to the chilly weather. "Or maybe she didn't regret it... maybe she's just scared of the consequences of what we did."  
  
When Ray had left his house and locked it up behind him, he let out a sigh, which immediately formed into steam against the cool air. Mariah had never been one to think about the consequences of her actions. She was the kind of optimistic person who always assumed everything would be all right. But unfortunately it sometimes didn't turn out that way. Which was why he was going to see her; so he could look after her.  
  
'Jeez, it only happened last night and you're already overprotective of her. I feel like Lee,' Ray thought sarcastically to himself.  
  
Eventually, after sitting down to rest once and tripping over a hole in road, he reached her house. He knew immediately that she was there- the lights were on and there was smoke coming out of the chimney.  
  
Ray gathered his courage, walked up to the door, and held his breath while he knocked. He saw a bit of movement behind the frosted glass pane in the top of the door, and a bit of the frost was wiped away and two golden eyes, almost identical to his own, peered out and locked with his. After about five seconds, the eyes blinked and disappeared and a flash of pink hair could be seen as the person turned to go back to their former position.  
  
Ray sighed and banged on the door once again- she was avoiding him. This time, no one came to see who it was, and he became extremely worried and frustrated.  
  
"Mariah? I know you're there!" he shouted to the door, and got a strangled sound in reply. Was it a sob? Or was she trying to do something stupid like hanging herself?  
  
"Mariah? Please, come out and talk to me," Ray's voice sounded a great deal more calm this time, but the reply he received was a barely legible, "No."  
  
"Mari, I'm really worried about you..."  
  
"Well, you shouldn't be," she shouted back, sounding slightly irritated.  
  
"Why not? You're avoiding me, you've barricaded yourself in your home and you're crying."  
  
Ray heard a sigh, and the lock on the door clicking open the door swung outwards, almost knocking him off balance, but he regained his usual calm posture as Mariah came into view, arms folded across her chest, her face was tear-stained, but she'd made an obvious effort not to look weak because there was a scowl on her face.  
  
"What?" she snapped.  
  
"Why did you run away just before? I don't understand... were you afraid?"  
  
"... I don't know..."  
  
"Look... if I hurt you or did something to make you upset... I'm sorry."  
  
Mariah's eyes locked with his and widened.  
  
"Oh no. I know you wouldn't purposely hurt me, Ray, not that you have..."  
  
"Well, what have I done wrong then?"  
  
"It's not you... I just feel guilty..."  
  
"And why would that be?" Ray asked softly.  
  
"Because I slept with you plainly for the reason of pleasing the Elders," Mariah admitted, refusing to meet his eyes.  
  
"How would you having sex with me please the Elders?" Ray said, blushing slightly.  
  
"They want more children in the village."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So yes... that was my master plan."  
  
"I was wondering what was going on, actually..."  
  
"And why is that?" Mariah questioned sharply.  
  
"The Elders were just asking me the other day, whether I'd ever consider you as more than a friend."  
  
"They planned this?" Mariah snapped. She was way past sorrow, now she was downright furious.  
  
"Apparently so... but I don't mind so much. Because I meant what I said last night."  
  
"What was that?" Mariah questioned. Ray could tell her mind was probably on murdering the Elders, so she smiled, grabbed her hand and pulled her into his warm embrace, kissing the top of her head once their bodies were pressed as closely together as they could be.  
  
"That I love you."  
  
Mariah nodded against his chest, whilst closing her eyes and placing an unwilling yet beautiful, self-contented grin on her face.  
  
"I love you too, Ray."  
  
~*~*~  
  
About nine days later, the two people were training their usual apprentices in the art of Beyblade. It was very early in the morning, Ray insisting that an early start was good because your mind was fresh and not muddled with other matters, which was important for practice for when you obtained a bit beast. Ray and Mariah, of course, did not have their bit beasts' anymore- once they had grown too old to beyblade professionally, the Elders had given them to the new generation of promising 'bladers.  
  
Mariah had woken up for the past few days, feeling violently ill. Usually she felt better as the day wore on, which was good, but when you were trying to teach young Beybladers proper techniques, it was no good to them if you were trying to prevent yourself from vomiting. She tried to right one of her pupil's launches, while breathing deeply over the child's shoulder and most probably onto her face. Mariah thought she probably looked like some sick paedophile or something, and if the kid's mother had come along she probably would have reported her to the police.  
  
Eventually, it was time for the weekly event of Ray's best student for that lesson going up against Mariah's. Mariah hadn't really been paying any attention to who had been looking promising that morning, due to the fact that felt as sick as a dog and frankly couldn't wait until she could walk back home and crawl into bed. She pointed to one of the kids, not really knowing whether she'd want to or not, but she stepped up to the Beyblade dish and smiled confidently at her opponent; a brown haired boy that Ray had chosen out of his group of Beyblade hopefuls.  
  
As the two children launched their blades and they circled each other in the dish, over and over again, she began to feel even more nauseous than she had before. Ray was trying to concentrate on the match, but his eyes kept flicking up to look at Mariah, who wasn't looking too well. Her face was pale and she had dark bags under her eyes; she looked like she hadn't slept for days. She started breathing rapidly through her mouth and rubbed her own stomach, whilst still trying to give instructions to the girl she'd picked to battle.  
  
After about two minutes more of the aforementioned actions, her cheeks puffed out and she rushed away, ending up behind the nearest bush, and began throwing up. Ray raised his right eyebrow and walked over to where Mariah was puking her guts up, trying to avoid the rather disgusting sight and rubbing her back in what he hoped was a comforting way. Mariah breathed deeply, apparently finished with what she'd been doing, withdrew a tissue from her pocket and wiped her mouth violently. Ray sweatdropped and offered his water bottle to her, and she took it willingly, swallowing all the water until the bottle was empty. She straightened back up and offered the bottle to Ray, who took it back and winced.  
  
"Remind me to wash that before I use it again."  
  
Mariah nodded and breathed deeply through her mouth.  
  
"Are you alright, Mariah?"  
  
"Yeah... I just haven't been feeling very well for the past few days."  
  
"Aa, I see. You should come back to my place after this; it's closer to here than yours and I don't want you to be by yourself if you're sick."  
  
"Okay..."  
  
"Training is over!" Ray shouted to the kids, who groaned and began to depart steadily.  
  
After all of the kids had left, Ray ushered Mariah towards his home at a rather quick pace. Once they were inside, Mariah rushed up to his bathroom and threw up again. Ray sweatdropped as she gagged into the toilet; he was standing just outside the room, with his arms behind his head, leaning against the wall of the short hallway that led to the bathroom, occasionally checking on her to make sure she didn't need any help.  
  
Once she's finished throwing up for the second time, he ran downstairs to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. Once he'd gone back up to the bathroom he offered her the glass of water, and she accepted it thankfully, swallowing it rapidly, feeling relieved as it soothed her parched throat.  
  
Once she'd finished gulping the water, she placed the empty glass on the bathroom cabinet, and Ray pulled her over to him and attempted to hoist her off the ground.  
  
"Come on... help me here. I'll take you into my room to rest."  
  
Mariah nodded against his embrace, and did her best to jump. When she'd managed a reasonable height, she locked her knees around Ray's waist and her arm's around his neck, which made him stumble a bit due to the sudden addition of weight, but she was reasonably light, so he recovered his balance quickly.  
  
Ray then carried her gently into his own room and placed her on his bed and pulled the light sheets up around her shoulders. Mariah felt like scowling, last time she'd been in this position it'd been for a much more romantic reason. And, personally she didn't think throwing up was terribly sexy.  
  
Ray flopped down on the other side of the bed, and softly caressed her back and hair with his warm palm.  
  
"I'll stay here, okay? If you need anything just ask me. I would kiss you, but I don't like the idea of spreading disease," he joked. Mariah nodded, showing that she didn't really care, but she felt too ill to roll over and face him.  
  
~*~*~  
  
About fifteen minutes later, Mariah fell asleep and slept deeply for the next five hours. It was now about 1 o'clock, and she had just awoken, feeling a lot better. Ray had fallen asleep beside her; his hair had been messed up and was drooping into his eyes. She smiled devilishly and poked him in the stomach, hard. Ray yelped and sat up, looking around for who had inflicted the poking. When he saw Mariah there, giggling at his actions, he folded his arms across his chest and glared in mock irritation- he was still smiling at her, however.  
  
"I feel better now," she said simply.  
  
"That's good to hear," he said, smiling at her as he sat up.  
  
"Then I suppose there's no point to me being here anymore. I think I should go..."  
  
She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, but when she tried to break away he gripped her wrist and flipped her over, onto her back. She couldn't help but grin at the devilish smile on his face.  
  
"I don't think you should. In fact, I think you should stay right where you are."  
  
"And why is that?" Mariah smirked up at him.  
  
"Because... I said so."  
  
"Umm... right. I don't find that a good enough reason, you know," Mariah commented.  
  
"Yeah, well I do," Ray smiled as he leaned down and kissed her softly. Mariah could think of nothing to do except kiss him back. She hadn't expected to continue from there, but she couldn't resist him as he pinned her under his weight and delivered kisses that made every vein in her body run with blood of a new fervour.  
  
Later, the pair collapsed to either side of each other, their bodies completely spent. Mariah squeezed her eyes closed and gulped in deep a lungful of oxygen, her chest rising and falling steadily. She halted, however, when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes and turning around, she saw it was indeed Ray who had seemed to recover a lot quicker than she was. He delicately brushed the pink strands of hair that had fallen onto her face back behind her ears, and then continued to stroke her hair gently after he had accomplished this feat. Mariah had honestly begun to feel like a puppy that Ray had decided to tame, getting a reward when she performed well...  
  
"Only God can make perfection so divine..." Ray muttered, trailing his hand slowly down Mariah's left arm. She shivered slightly, but soon recovered and smirked at him.  
  
"Don't get all romantic on me now," she purred sarcastically.  
  
~*~*~  
  
A week later, Mariah dragged herself out of bed and to the toilet to throw up; her condition hadn't worsened, nor gotten better and she was starting to worry. Once she'd finished emptying her stomach, she grasped around under her nightgown for the rim of her underwear and yanked the piece of clothing down haphazardly.  
  
Nothing.  
  
This was really starting to worry her. She knew it was due to happen, so why didn't it come? She sighed and placed the toilet seat down, so she could sit on it and contemplate what was actually wrong. The virus might have caused her hormones to screw up or something...  
  
Of course, the obvious answer was staring right into her face, taunting her, making her feel sick with worry. Pregnancy. It was the obvious answer, and it was what she'd been aiming for, but now she felt scared, alone and completely helpless.  
  
It had only happened twice, but if she were pregnant, as she suspected, it would have happened the first time because she was sick before the second time...  
  
Right now, the consequences of her one night of love and pleasure with Ray were coming back to haunt her.  
  
Still, she wasn't sure yet. She couldn't be sure herself.  
  
"I'll go down to the chemist and get one of those stupid tester things..." she muttered to herself.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Mariah could now swear on her dead parents' graves that buying a pregnancy test was probably the most embarrassing thing one could ever do in their life. Everyone's judging eyes watched your every move, and you could tell what they were thinking about you...  
  
And she could also safely swear that the second most embarrassing thing you could ever do was trying to do the test properly. (AN: Presuming you all know what you have to do with those testers?)  
  
For the whole time it took for the results to come up, she stared at the stupid plastic stick that would be deciding her future. Finally the results appeared.  
  
The two, thin blue lines blared out like they were on fire, staining her vision.  
  
Now, Mariah knew what she had to do. First off, gather the courage to tell Ray. Second? That would all depend on the outcome of the first...  
  
~*~*~  
  
Kitty: Any good? I hope so. This chapter was over four thousand words on Microsoft Word, so that ain't too bad. I apologize that it took so long her me to update. And Cherry Rain, I've lost your email address so if your mum hasn't banned you yet, please email me!  
  
Until next time, goodbye! 


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